Erm… my Python script is borked. Will posting this clear it?
Edit: no.
Edit2: the first failure I have a date for was December 20 2025. Not sure if I have the need or desire to debug.
Stray
We walked Pumpkin dog before lunch today – later than normal. Halfway round we came across an unattended dog, a labrador-spaniel cross. No name tag on the collar. He was very friendly, more so when he figured out we had a small bag containing Pumpkin’s treats. We asked people around if they’d seen anyone looking for lost dog – it was little early to call it a stray. Nope.
He followed us and continued to follow us until we got close to home. Uh-oh.
So on the lead he went and we invited him inside. I looked through local Facebook groups, nothing. Decided to post. As far as I know the posts still haven’t been approved.
Rang the local RSPCA. Number rang out 3 times, no opportunity to leave a message.
Looked on the local authority site, found a number of a national dog collection service, rang it, left a message.
We filled a water bowl, got an old and way-too-small dog bed down and I gave him some food. And treats.
Rang the 24 hour vet, asked if they checked microchips. Yes. And they could fit us in even though it’s emergencies only today and until the holiday weekend ends.
Half an hour later we were at the vet. Luckily the dog was indeed. Chipped, yeah. A local-to-us owner then, the vet receptionist rang and left a message…
About an hour later we got a call, the owner was on his way…
Turns out their teenagers left the door open while the adults were preparing for a family thing later. Anyway, grateful owner took the dog off our hands, and it seems my comment about ensuring the dog got a name tag flew right over his head. It seems they think he’s safe out of doors on his own – he’s ‘usually’ to be found on the area between the countryside and housing estates. And now we know they don’t care enough to get a tag they can secure on his collar – ‘it’s always coming off’.
Anyway, at least we know what to do next time.
Should we have reported the owner for their dog not having a tag – a legal requirement here in the UK?
Instant
A colleague gave me a sachet of guava chilli instant tea earlier. Just add its contents to 200ml of water, stir until dissolved, add an ice cube. Easy.
What’s special about this one? The company is owned by my colleague’s friend’s cousin.
Nearly ready:
Just before offering it round my family for tasting:
It’s really rather refreshing, without any kind of aftertaste that often accompanies instant drinks, and so gets Baz’s seal of approval.
I wish I’d looked at the ingredients on the box now, but maybe that’d have spoiled the experience?
Followup November 7: The hibiscus tea given to me today isn’t as easy to dissolve, another colleague said it’s a bit ‘bitty’. I tried.
Weight
For the first time in years I’ve lost weight to the point it shows – to others and to the waistline of my stretch jeans. Sure it’s only 10lbs/4.5 kg so far, but I’m impressed. I don’t care how long it’s taken.
The only negative for this Brit, I’ve one less thing to moan about – that I can’t lose weight no matter what I try. 🙂
So how?
More frequent and longer dog walks, and I’ve started jogging with Pumpkin dog (1 year old now) during them. The jogs are only a few hundred yards/metres at a time though, mainly because she needs to stop to sniff things. It’s honestly worth the aching muscles.
Although I’ve eaten more healthily for a couple of years now (health scare) this time around there’s been no measurable change in diet.
So, exercise not extra fries.
Idling
At the start of 2025 I’d intended to blog more frequently. And here we are, 2 months since my last post and back to being a content consumer.
I’m not disengaged but yet again there’s too much happening in the world for me to offer up my opinions without offending someone/everyone, so I’ll…
We’re 2-1/2 weeks into a garage conversion – having a garage too small for our cars and previously full of 18 years of stored crap turned into a room suitable for our girls to entertain in. Or maybe one to escape to and shut the world out.
Apart from the tradesmen breaking our hot and cold water and central heating system (after they’d moved the boiler out of the room for a reason I still cannot fathom) it’s gone well so far, but we’re now at the snagging stage. It’s not a small list.
We also had new flooring laid for 50% of the downstairs area, and apart from being unable to shut the kitchen door that’s oh so nearly done.
The house is dusty throughout and strewn with stuff we can’t really put back yet, not until we’ve had the job completed and we’ve signed it off – and yeah, paid what’s left.
Today I’ve got a bad back, the worst pain in years, so everything is making me grumpy – especially today’s New York Times ‘Spelling Bee’ puzzle and its inability to allow ‘eutectic’ – which is somehow not in its word list. Bah!
Authenticator
The iOS Microsoft Authenticator app lost my 2FA codes. Luckily there’s only one that mattered today, and I could temporarily disable the Wordfence security plugin to gain access to my blog.
This underscores the importance of retaining backup recovery codes. Somehow at least, I’ve not actually figured that bit out just yet.
Butternut Box
On Thursday I signed up to the Butternut Box dog food delivery service and was pleasantly surprised to see they’d deliver an introductory pack of 2 weeks of food the very next day.
The sign up and variety selection process was pleasant enough I suppose, and I looked forward to getting, er… told Pumpkin to look forward to some lovely new food.
She’s been a very fussy eater of late, probably because she’s started the transition from puppy to lady dog. So we’ve tried introducing her to new varieties of biscuits, wet food…
Anyway, as soon as their delivery partner’s email dropped in my inbox my heart sank. dpd have a well-deserved negative reputation. But hey, how difficult is it to deliver a box within a 1-hour window?
Bear in mind I’d instructed Butternut Box that our safe space is to the right of the house behind the bins. In the shade. Bear in mind I’d already informed dpd too. Easy.
I arrived home just after my wife had returned with daughter1, to a box dropped upside-down at the front door in the heat of mid-afternoon sun. The contents had started to defrost but at least Butternut Box said they could be refrozen if still cold to the touch…
So I complained.
I tried to complain.
The reply-to email address is a ‘no-reply’. The from email address was returned to me with AI instructions to try another one, which elicited an AI response letting me know that I could save a safe space location in my Butternut Box account and with dpd.
Sigh.
Right, let’s close the account.
That’s not possible without a message to either an AI or via a telephone call. So I asked the AI to delete my account. Nope, had to wait for a human to contact me to do it.
So I waited.
Just tried signing into the account in the app and on the web site. Nope, it’s now an invalid email or password.
Er…
They shut the account without a request for feedback. To be fair it’s what I asked for, but it all seems just so impersonal.
No, I cannot recommend Butternut box and I emphatically cannot recommend their delivery partner dpd.
But hey, at least Pumpkin has a new branded bandana. It’s too small to fit her, but hey we can’t have everything.
Peace
A few weeks ago I posted about a peace lily plant I’d inherited and somehow kept alive for a few months. I don’t think it’s got long left.
The advice I was given was it was over-watered. Or under-watered. Or needed more light. Or had contracted a plant disease (despite not being close to any others for a couple of years).
So this is what I’m left with.
After cutting all the dead stems off I teased the dead half of the root structure away and threw it out, worked some compost in and around the roots, gave it a light watering and will leave it a week before its next feed.
Oh, the pot liner had drain holes in the base, and I’d simply not thought to empty the stagnant water out again – which is why I got a big mug full last time. Yes, of course I sniffed it this time!
The worst that’s going to happen is it dies and I buy a fourth. Or a cactus. But after seeing a couple of recent new leaves I’m hopeful I can assist in resurrecting itself.
Or, maybe I’ll do a search for “un-killable house or office plants”!
No, plastic is not an option.
For now.
Moist
I acquired a peace lily plant when my last boss retired in November. I feel a great responsibility to keep it alive. I’d killed 2 of his previous plants and bought this a couple of years ago to make amends.
Until recently it positively thrived in my care, but this week it drooped. It has browning leaves too despite it being watered to the same schedule and with the same volume of water my ex-boss used. (Science)!
Now if you hear in mind that I’ve been poking my finger into the soil between twice-weekly watering sessions, and it’s always been just slightly moist. But today I tested at 180⁰ from my usual place.
The photo caption mentions a dark brown liquid. My poking finger submerged up to the first knuckle.
Oops!
Kitchen roll pushed into the pot absorbed some of the surface water, but it just kept on absorbing and absorbing and…
I cradled the plant and tipped up the pot over my mug (which needed a wash anyway). Most went in the mug.
Next week I’ll trim the dead leaves.
It’s a plan.
Phase 2: I’ll buy a soil moisture meter/monitor.
And, er…
That’s it folks.
Books
I replied to a toot by @greghiggins457@appdot.net about the frequency of new books sent by ‘Book Bub’.
“I signed up for Book Bub a while back. Everyday I get free books on my Kindle thanks to this email. Problem is I am not a fast reader. I have so many unread books on my Kindle that will probably last me the rest of my life. I need to learn how to read faster and read more consistently.”
A slightly enhanced version of my reply follows.
Greg’s words got me thinking of where I am, not actually reading, but definitely collecting books for some time in the future when the ‘book thing’ switches on again…
About 40 years ago I began to make weekly or slightly less frequent visits to a used books market stall that bought the books back for half the purchase price. Their science fiction collection drew 100% of my interest and I struggled mightily to come away with only a few at a time.
As an already insatiable reader I learned to read fast, to get the meat out of a story, and maybe a little more. Books l loved I kept, the rest eventually got returned. I read them all. And things slowed down a bit.
The candidates for keepers I read again, more slowly this time, and culled those that didn’t entertain me. So things slowed down a bit more.
Finally I read again what was left, savouring the nuanced stuff I’d inevitably find in and between the lines. And there I found the keepers.
Eventually life changed and I stopped visiting that market stall. I found enough to fill the void. Family, responsibility, different stuff.
Retirement’s a few years off yet, but close enough that I know what I’ll be doing for at least a part of it.
And last year I found another market stall, one town over.